Hi Dr. Ravitch,
I’ve been glad to see a couple of blog posts in the past few days about CCSS and early childhood. I am the mother of a kindergartener, and have been on a slow simmer about this since my daughter started school in Sept. My daughter is four, she’ll turn five Thanksgiving weekend. She woke up crying in the middle of the night last night from a dream, worried about not being able to learn to read.
She is in our very well rated zoned NYC school (Queens). Her homework load is ridiculous! As I am a working single mom, she goes to an afterschool program. I had to put my foot down with them about the amount of time spent doing homework. Capping it at about a half an hour. The pressure about learning to read is not coming from me. I don’t believe there’s anything that can be done to change the curriculum soon enough to help my daughter, but I would love to hear from you and maybe your readers about how to deal with this as a parent of a young child.
Thanks so much,
Rose XX
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Why are we pushing younger and younger children to read and to do math when people are living longer and longer? Children have a whole lifetime of about 80 years ahead of them. It might make more sense to allow the little ones to play longer. After all, many adults are now working into their late sixties and seventies. Why should any child have to be able to read at age 5?
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Mary Ollie, EXACTLY! Brilliant. Thank you! I have written a few blogs myself about this CC, kindergarten, teachers scores nonsense, and I have not heard it put that way before. Let the kids be kids and let the teachers teach and let kindergarten return to teacher the play based skills and the love and joy of learning. Kids and teachers would both be happier.
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Why are younger children being pushed so hard by the for-profit, corporate-driven, fake education reformers? Easy answer. They want to force these children to become consumers earlier so the corporations will profit off them faster.
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Mary Ollie.. is it not ultimately ironic in a tragic way. Labor laws were created in part to give children a safe environment to thrive and to enable them to grown and learn in developmentally appropriate ways. We can look at portraiture from earlier periods in history and see that children were looked at as miniature adults. But psychology and medicine taught humans otherwise. And now, thanks to some very idiotic, power and money-hungry leadership, our children’s childhoods are being stolen from them and they are forced to learn in extremely developmentally inappropriate ways that are already proving damaging to them. Horrible! It saddens me to think a child wakens in the middle of the night with nightmares over whether or not he/she will learn to read. INSANITY!
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The best way to help a 4 year old become a good reader is to cultivate a love of reading in her. Do that by reading to her. Even a 10 or 15 minute bedtime story done EVERY night will do the trick. If she associates books and reading with snuggling with mommy who is in a relaxed, happy mood with all her attention on me, talking in a pleasant (even funny) voice, books and reading will become very attractive and not a threat. This may be one-more-damned-thing-to-do for a busy single mom, but it is well worth the time all the way around
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Those bedtime stories make some of my favorite memories. They were a window into how my children saw the world. All of them remember that time fondly. The one who has children is following in the tradition helped along by a teacher wife. 🙂
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Opt out should apply not only to tests but to homework. There is absolutely no research showing any benefit of homework at that age (or any time before high school, really). And even for those who believe in homework, the 10 minutes a night per grade rule is a ceiling, not a floor. Since kindergarten isn’t even a grade really, grade 0 perhaps, then 10 minutes times 0 grade = zero.
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I am a kindergarten teacher in Pompano Beach, Florida (formerly from Queens). The work in kindergarten is becoming more and more developmentally inappropriate. I have to challenge my kids and make them believe they can do things that developmentally they are ready for but not frustrate or stress them. I know this may sound silly or crazy but I have written to Dr. Oz to ask him to do a show about how we are stressing our children with testing and their school workload. Perhaps if enough people write him about this subject he would cover it. It isn’t a way to cure the problem but it would bring the issue out in a very public way. We need as much publicity as possible on these issues to fight the test-crazy “reformers”.
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Great idea Donna! I am sure Dr. Oz will be a grandparent some day! It needs national attention. He should also reflect on what it must be like for children to sit all day without opportunity for proper exercise! Oh and why not let him see what goes as “nutritional lunches” in title one schools….
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Hi Rose,
Last year my daughter was in K as well. It was the school’s first year with CCSS. The homework load was upsetting. Also, she was half day (they switched to full day this year) so they had to send the other “half” of the day home as “homework.”
It gets worse. It was all black and white photocopied worksheets as the poor teachers didn’t have printed books (go green = black and white photocopies). It was absurd, and stressful.
So we stopped the pendulum from swinging by having her sit for the same amount of time every night (10 min), work as hard as she could, and them move on to another activity which also is considered a child’s work (playing, chores, family time). I found that her reading ability improved rapidly when she sat for ten minutes and really focused. Knowing that it would last “forever” helped her to relax. The goal was not completion, it was sustained effort for a very reasonable amount of time.
Imagine showing up for work everyday and never knowing when you would be allowed to leave. That is what homework feel like for a child unless it is time specific. Kids should only sit for ten minutes per grade.
I have a son in high school. He is a senior this year, and being recruited by colleges for engineering. He lives a balanced life. I’ve been through no child left behind, and an array of other acronyms. Perhaps because I have worked on a research study measuring homework for the past three years, I was more confident speaking with our school district about implementing a balanced homework routine into our school district.
They have, and it’s been wonderful.
The facts are clear when it comes to academic homework. There is a point of diminishing returns, and it is anything over 10 minutes per grade. (http://www.goodparentinc.com/learninghabit-studies/) For the full study see The American Journal of Family Therapy.
We now understand that the concept of “homework” involves balancing many opportunities that provide our kids with healthy learning experiences. Activities such as neighborhood play, sports, dancing, family time, chores, and sleeping are equally important for whole-child enrichment. Additionally, children who participate in extra-curricular activities such as sports, dance, and clubs score higher on academic, social and emotional scales.
This program was developed, with data supplied by The Learning Habit research project, as a way to integrate a unified homework plan. Without such a plan, there is no way to insure that all children, regardless of the type of school they attend or the state in which they live, have an equal opportunity to participate in a wide range of learning opportunities.
The Balanced Homework Habit Initiative strives to level the playing field for schools, parents, and children, in order to facilitate:
1. Universality of school and parental expectations
2. A balanced, whole-child educational experience
3. Support for all activities that contribute to student success
4. Positive home-school relationships
Our goal is to see the Balanced Homework Habit endorsed as public policy. The following is the statement that school districts agree to endorse.
The Purpose of Academic Homework: To build at-home learning skills such as self-reliance, autonomy, decision-making, and focus and should not require extensive parental involvement or finances.
Additionally, there are four core tenets to the initiative which serve to limit the amount of time students will spend on academic homework and give instructions to parents on how to request help for their child.
To download the initiative visit http://www.goodparentinc.com
###
About Good Parent Foundation
A non-profit foundation whose mission is to develop, disseminate and support research based approaches to learning and education.
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I’m a NYC teacher. The homework policy is often set by the principal who may or may not get their marching orders from the superintendent. Teachers don’t have any voice, but parents sometimes do. Call the principal and superintendent. Tell them that there are studies indicating there is no benefit to an overload of homework. Call 311 anonymously if you have to. Principals are scared of 311. Opt out of all state testing. The scores are meaningless. Join the PTA and band together. There are power in numbers.
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311? I never thought of that. Complaints get routed from there to the DOE?
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yes.
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Wow! This is a great idea. Do call 311 if you have to, from an “undisclosed location.”
I cannot believe the teacher wants to do this. I really don’t believe it. A four-year-old with homework. This must be a first. And if it isn’t, I don’t want to know.
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Donna – you might try Dr. Gabor Mate who has been willing to speak out in other aspects of our stressful crazy lives — http://drgabormate.com Dr. Oz seems to me to be too attached to the 1% to really take a stand. In any case, Dienne is right — parents should opt out of homework entirely. If possible this parent should meet with other parents and demand changes. That is what the parents in my daughter’s kinder class back in 1986 had to do. A new teacher had no clue how to teach kindergarten. Parents demanded clay, painting, dress up, blocks, etc. It seemed to help a bit. But I agree with Rose — the changes will come to late for her little girl. I also would ask for Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige’s help before I’d ask Dr. Oz. http://www.nancycarlssonpaige.org IMHO.
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I hear you and you are not alone. I am a former first grade public school teacher. My eldest child is now in first grade in public school. She has one hour + of homework each day. When my daughter needs to breathe and be childish at the end of a full school day, it is homework that takes a bulk of her “free time”. I didn’t agree with the push as a teacher, and I certainly don’t now, as a parent. This is a great struggle for those of us who believe so much in the assets of public education, but have to coerce our children, who actually experience it, to complete developmentally inappropriate work, when research consistently reveals that a young child’s real work is play.
Personally, some nights, we absolutely opt out of the worksheet overload.
If your daughter’s sleep and emotional wellbeing are being interrupted by what she’s required to learn/do, you may want to look at the pros and cons of beginning Kindergarten before age 5. I feel for you. Our Kindergarten experience was not a positive one, and instead filled with pressures that suppressed instincts to be, well, childish. I wish you the best in your decision. Diane, I’m so happy that we, as parents and/or teachers, have a place to come together to have these difficult conversations. Thank you for your work.
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No one that I know of is redshirting their children. Which is pretty much impossible to do in nyc public schools now anyway. Children are expected to start kindergarten the year they turn five. Even if they turn five on December 31st. In our very mixed SES neighborhood many of the middle class parents work with their young children or have them tutored to get them into the gifted and talented program, if that fails, they look to charters. The working class and lower middle class parents seem to have drunk the reform kool-aid, and believe our schools have been failing, and this early rigor is needed.
It’s hard to know what to do. I like her school and her teachers, I love the diversity, which I think is so important to become a good citizen of our world, my heart aches to see my daughter frustrated. Chancellor Fariña promised to bring the joy of learning back to the classroom. I don’t see that happening. I see kids who could easily wind up burned out and turned off my 3rd grade.
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Rose,
what they are trying to do (and I’m not defending any degree of scaring children), but the research is showing that catching reading problems in kindergarten alleviates the child getting behind in a way that gets compounded by third grade, where they really do get sort of left behind. Somewhere in the mess, an admirable goal exists.
The problem is teachers are often not protecting children from harsh realities. . .there are ways to make an intense situation less so for a child. That’s a skill that takes time for teachers, I think. They are forgetting to make it like a game, because they themselves are so nervous about the benchmarks and the scores.
The MO right now is to frighten the s****t out of teachers into realizing that THEY are the thing that stands between a child reading or not reading on grade level by third grade (once they get to third, it becomes harder and harder to catch them up. . .but by locating the deficiencies in processing as early as kindergarten, the research implies that this gap can be alleviated).
There is a problem right now that we are focusing everything on well, no child left behind. . .despite the cost of any other virtue that might go by the wayside with this narrow goal.
As I wrote below, I would be just very visible and try to be a partner in helping the school find language and demeanor for their jobs that doesn’t scare the children. Be vigilant about wanting to help the school community with this new environment and ways to make this new jungle less frightening.
Meanwhile, the fight is on to try and refocus this obsession with data in our country. But until certain mandates are reversed, the name of the game is “assess, fix, assess, fix”. . .and it starts as early as kindergarten.
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Rose,
Why not write to Ms. Farina and ask if she would consider starting a developmentally appropriate kindergarten in some schools? It would help if other parents feel as you do. And of course a young child should not have much homework!
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I was just looking at some pre-reading skills on a pediatrics website. The ability to notice words that rhyme, and simple poems like Mother Goose, are milestones for a 4 year old child that show reading readiness. Another is awareness that letters exist and can stand for words. So, for example, when a 4 year old is being read to, she should know that the story is in that funny-looking stuff on the printed page, called writing. She should know you are not making up the story, like you may do when there’s no book around.
I don’t see where homework as a place in this.
If she has a favorite song or poem, find it and teach it to her by heart. That should make her proud! And restore her confidence!
If she can already sing a song by heart, she IS “reading ready” for her age. She’ll be fine.
Still, I’m skeptical that you can “catch” potential reading problems in children that young. It’s too soon to know, and it sounds like misguided labeling.
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My grandson’s kindergarten report card had three categories: reading, writing and math. Students were assessed in these three areas for basic, proficient and advanced. I was appalled. The report card lacked developmental milestones that his father’s report card contained. There were no gross motor skills checklist such as skipping, jumping ,hopping,throwing,balancing on one foot. It had no fine motor skills assessment such as tying shoelaces, writing, drawing. As a matter of fact it was void of any developmental milestones for kindergarten students. My son seemed pleased that my grandson could read and excelled at math and writing. He was advanced in all areas on the report card and did not understand my concern about the common core standards. That is when a light bulb went off for me—some parents are pleased that their students are being pushed into curriculum that is not age appropriate and are mastering skills at a younger age. It did not seem to concern my son at all that his son could not and still can not tie his shoelaces. First grade has presented new challenges with full day instruction. There has apparently been a behavior modification system put in place for all students in the classroom. Honestly, is it truly a behavior issue that students are having or is it inappropriate curriculum demands that are causing the behavior issues. Parents need to ban together and voice their concerns— They are not listening to the concerns of experienced educators.
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Always learning… you have hit “the nail on the head” when you wonder…”Honestly, is it truly a behavior issue that students are having or is it inappropriate curriculum demands that are causing the behavior issues…” It is most definitely the inappropriate curriculum, loss of exercise and play so desperately needed throughout the day and of course young children being put into a corporate stress mill when they are still learning to tie their shoes!
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Four and five year olds being forced to sit still and focus for longer than is age appropriate. My daughter has been coming home with little trinkets from her teacher for being “a good listener.” She told me yesterday that now they get a cookie from the teacher at the end of the day if they were good listeners that day. I’m not opposed to a little bribery for children now and then, but this seems like constant behavior control.
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Tell the teacher.
be visible.
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Rose.. I can understand your concerns… great so now a child who by the grace of god manages to be compliant day after day will also become obese from all the cookies! Yipes!
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Connect with other parents to see if they see the same issues with their children. There is more power in numbers. You can make an appointment with the principal, the school board, and ,if necessary, see if parents in other parts of the state feel the same way about the developmentally inappropriate instruction. Your group can make an appointment to speak with state representatives. Parents are going to have to stand up for their children; otherwise, those in power will continue push down the curriculum in the name of “rigor.” If all else fails, parents can pursue the “opt-out” button.
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Yes. Exactly.
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This is for anyone who is interested in the research behind the pressure for reading skills by the end of grade 3.
Reading deficits at an early age are caused by many of the circumstances associated with poverty. This is the pivotal study –high visibility in Congress and in the press–on high school graduation rates by proficiency scores in reading. The title is “Double Jeapardy.” meaning that reading skills alone will not improve graduation rates for children who live in poverty, but that poor readers who live in poverty are much less likely to graduate. The policy to start reading early and double down before the end of grade three is rationalized by this high profile study. http://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/DoubleJeopardyReport.pdf
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Thank you for providing this.
As a teacher, I am having to
go through a required 10 hours of reading training (even though I am a music teacher). I am glad hear the latest research, but admittedly skeptical of presentations paid for by our DPI, which accepted RttT funds. I am always looking to broaden my reading. Thank you.
Esoteric answers are not helpful to parents or teachers living this post RttT reality. Links like this are far more helpful than self-righteous lectures about pigs and lip stick or philosophical musings with no practical action for now.
Our time is NOW.
And don’t forget to vote.
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I am not going to read it. I suspect the study finds a correlation with not reading at grade level by the end of third grade and future academic struggles. I would be upset, however, if the conclusion they draw is to cram more academic work in earlier. It is a really warped mindset that demands more of small children when they struggle with content that is inappropriate to begin with. If they struggle with pre-academic skills why add academic challenges? Or, as the case increasingly seems to be, what is the rationale for skipping those essential readiness skills and pushing developmentally inappropriate, academic skills? I subbed in a kindergarten class a year ago and did not recognize the program. Gone were the blocks and kitchen. There were no dressups, no house corner, no sand table or painting easels. The teacher spent her time with small groups working on academic tasks. Play was obviously not viewed as the child’s work. I have not returned to the kindergarten.
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Refuse….this mania will only change when parents resist.
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When did it become imperative that a child learn to read at five!? I think it’s known, by genuine educators, to be pedagogically unsound. Generally, age seven is the appropriate age for a child to start to embrace academics. You know, in Iceland, there
is virtually no illiteracy, no kinder garten, and the children start school at seven. Are we
out of our minds!? Why aren’t five year olds playing? Why aren’t they allowed their
natural state of wonder and discovery? And homework!? What!? Get angry parents!
Get very angry!
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I agree. And how do we determine a kid can read? By giving a standardized reading test where the passing score is set artifically high.
?
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She’s 4. She’s being forced to do something that few children that age are cognitively capable of/ Remove her ASAP. A good babysitter with a picture book will a whole lot more.
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The only “homework”my K children had was to read for 20 minutes and once we had to look for shapes in our house.
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Refuse the tests. Let us know if we can help. Our website is www (dot) unitedoptout (dot) com. There is also an early childhood guide on our website that is very useful for organizing parents at your school.
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Don’t let the CCSS agenda forced on the country by Arne Duncan’s DOE—with support from President Obama and Bill Gates—ruin the future love of reading for your daughter.
I was almost seven when my mother started to teach me to read at home after she was told that I would never learn to read by experts at the local public school. By experts, I mean administration and not my classroom teacher, who helped my mother with advice and material.
My mother taught me at home and my teacher did what she could at school, and I learned to read and have been an avid reader for more than sixty years.
The most important thing a parent can do at home is make sure they read a little everyday—where the child sees them reading—from books, newspapers and magazines and spend some fun time with your child reading to them and with them from age appropriate books. My parents—both high school drop outs—were avid readers and I grew up seeing them reading books every night.
If a child sees the most powerful roll model in their young lives reading everyday, the odds heavily favor the child will grow up with a love of reading too.
Don’t let Arne Duncan, President Obama or Bill Gates destroy that for your daughter. She is not a computer chip on an assembly line.
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that’s easy to say, but in the classroom with RttT mandates. . .you can’t just give a philosophical protest. You have to do what the curriculum coach tells you.
We have to give Rose a balance of big picture reassurance (and I agree with totally, Lloyd), but she has to navigate through this year with her child. I’m facing the same reality. My husband and I are rearranging many things about our lives so I that I can be a present parent in our son’s public school experience. I think parents have to be visible, communicate regularly. . .and until we beat this epidemic, we have to tend to our children and be sure they are comfortable and not waking up at night (WITHOUT meds!!!).
Yes, there is a tendency for these policies to be robbing children of their childhoods. But when caught in the middle of these policies, practical suggestions for surviving it are what is in order.
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the only practical suggestion that will bring change, will be effective, is for us all to REVOLT… REFUSE…. they cant do this to our kids unless we go along with it… and we dont have – or rather our kids dont have – the luxury of time to turn this around…
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What you are doing as a parent is great. Parents joining the resistance by being more involved in their child or children’s education is what’s needed most, because it might help lead to an faster end to this one-size-fits-all (thanks to Bill Gates financial support of CCSS and its rank and yank agenda), top down management style being forced on the public schools from Washington DC—and to think that the U.S. prides itself on being a democracy while it also has the largest prison population on the planet, and 2nd place goes to China with almost five times the people but half the prison population.
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I assume that these complaints come from the schools made tox by the Common Core State Standards. I suggest that you and anyone else you can find download, print, and count the Kindergarten standards.
Try to re-write them so they are free of jargon.
Then think through whether the child is attending a half day or full day kindergarten–and time allocations for these two subjects. If you can find a crew of people to take this on you will probably be much better prepared to opt out, be heard, and justify your objections IF you are able to get face time with the people who are foisting these requirements on students.
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Good exercises for sure.
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I have a slightly different take on this. I agree that speaking up about the inappropriate use of homework is a good start, but I have also seen anxious parents worried that their child can’t read at this age, and they have a very narrow idea of what “reading” means. I would encourage you to help your daughter redefine reading in a broad way – recognizing exit signs, car brands, cereal names, letters and names, even retelling a story by looking at the pictures are all developmentally appropriate ways of learning to read. It’s simply insane to think children should be able to read all the Harry Potter books by second grade. When my nephew was that age, his favorite book to read together with an adult was Sara Fanelli’s My Map Book (written by a child). He knew her maps inside and out, and loved to look at the pictures and talk about the words on the pages that he knew best. Try to bring as much joy to the process as possible and all will be well.
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yes. finding those avenues where they are already succeeding in reading is important. Noticing how your child learns best, and then helping to make all their “homework” into activities where they can channel that strength is a good thing to do.
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As mentioned before, opt your child out of standardized testing:
http://www.unitedoptout.com
There are other parents who feel as you do. Start talking to them. There is strength in numbers.
Parental concerns carry more weight with school decision-makers than the professional opinions of experienced teachers.
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If they are assessing the child on the I-pad with MClass or one of the other RttT faves, advise the teacher (or request via the principal) that they not call things “tests.” Also, request a meeting with the principal to be sure teachers are not framing things as warnings to the teachers.
As Duane Swacker notes regularly, our profession is very full of people wanting to go along to get along, I would even say it attracts people who like to be told what to do, and then they do it with the caveat “I’m doing what I was told.” Young teachers might not be savvy with screening what they say to a child. . .they might be saying things like, “we have to use these tests to be sure you can read!” and they might be unwittingly scaring the child.
Ask the child what the teacher says. (Or ask to play school, let the child be the teacher and I’ll be the child will present a very good picture of what is going on in the classroom).
Stay on top of it. Be visible at the school as much as you can.
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I cant agree with you… painting lipstick on the pig but still enabling the agenda and using the kids as cashcows and experimental subjects is not the answer… its more of the ‘go along to get along’ stuff…
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Are you a parent with a kid I. The system?
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In the system?
Practical advice for parents who are actually in this right now.
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Think about it.
You are in a situation and you want practical advice.
And someone gives you philosophical advice.
Which is worth more?
Be practical. Some of us are living this with our kids. Lipstick and pigs. . . Whatever. This is our lives. Baby steps. Practical answers.
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yes, Joanna – I am a parent with a child; I first Opted him Out – was one of the first in the country to do so in 2009 – my OptOut letters were featured on Anthony Cody’s blog…. then I took my child out altogether cos I wouldnt subject him to the edreform madness and his teachers wouldnt stand up for him and his classmates….
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correction: as warnings to the students (heaping fear onto the child for compliance so the teacher can get through all the assessments is a risk with an inexperienced teacher)
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I spent many years as an early childhood educator, Instilling the joy of learning in my preschoolers through exploration, play, and being read to daily was a pleasure. My advice to you is first to sit with your child and read everyday. Instead of worksheets, do math with real objects such as candy, blocks, dominoes, etc. there are great books for children that reinforce these concepts in fun ways. Spending quality time with her will go a long way in building positive attitudes toward learning. Explore and create things.
Then get online and write to your legislators, editors, superintendants of Ed, principal, etc. it is important for parents to speak up publicly as advocates for their children. We must protect our children and all children.
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But day in day out. What?
What about Monday morning?
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I feel for you and all of the children who are suffering through this nonsense. Robbing the cradle. We will have adult misfits who are going to constantly be trying to fill the holes and trying to reclaim or relive their missing childhood. For Rose, I would suggest you read wonderful picture books and story books to your daughter. A little at a time, given how busy you are; don’t try to force a certain time amount each day. I also agree that pointing out environmental print is a great thing, too. Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook has good suggestions for books parents can read to their kids. I am an advocate for poetry with kids. Your local public librarian can help you with titles. There are so many new and incredible books for kids. Highlights Magazine for kids and the newer younger versions are also good. With our son we stumbled on the idea of reading comic books. Good old Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Surprisingly I came to see their value as I was not “on board” at first. What we did was point to the words as we read. The picture to print ratio gave him a good chance to begin to figure out what the words said by himself. In other words, “there was enough there, there” and he was captivated. He was reading some by age 3 even though that was never a goal for us. He came to it naturally. Saw us reading often, too. With poems and nursery rhymes, once she knows the poem a bit, not totally by heart, but enough, and when she likes one, give her a copy to try to read. Read it to her and point. She will get the idea. But tell her that she will learn to read, that she can do it, that she may not be able to do it YET, but she will. Be honest and explain what is going on at school in a way she can understand. It’s all about the politics and this crazy idea of rigor. Kids need to love learning and ideas and books and numbers and to be creative and happy. They need compassion and understanding and great role models. When she wakes up crying tell her it’s a bad dream and she will be fine, not to worry. I tutored or tried to tutor (private teach) a kindergarten girl who was not ready to learn to read. She believed that reading was knowing EVERY word and since she could not do it (we were using Good Night Moon then) she rejected it. I told her parents we should not work together until and unless she was interested. Eventually we started up in gr. 2. She became a brilliant reader. Reads beautifully with grand expression and loves it now. One cannot plant a seed and yell at it to grow, pressure it, over water it or anything else. Love your daughter and make home learning beautiful, low-key and natural. Assure your child that she is and will continue to be a wonderful person whom you will always love and treasure. And then do what the others suggest about being an activist parent, advocating for common sense for your child and all the others. Kids should not feel like failures at 4 years old. (BTW I went at 4, too, and I turned out fine, but we did little to no academics in Kindergarten way back when!)
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Thank you for acknowledging the time issue. I work a 9-5 job with an hour commute each way. It’s a long day for both of us. (Although, many parents work longer or more difficult hours.) Regardless, I do much of what you suggest. When she woke up crying from the dream, I looked her in the eyes (hard to do, as she kept turning away (OUCH!)), and told her that I know she will be able to learn to read, and that I would help her and her teachers would help her.
I was an early reader, but her being in the middle of the curve is completely fine with me. At the moment, I think her standout quality is her EQ. Which may be a contributing factor in her taking her frustration about reading to heart. Oh, and her sense of humor and amazing comic timing. Seriously! 🙂
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She is lucky to have a mom who is smart enough to recognize her talents. The best thing we can give our children is a strong self confidence that will help through difficult patches. Spend your time reading to her. Even if it is only 5-10 minutes a day. It will always be time well spent.
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Rose,
You are obviously an intelligent, thoughtful person/mom. EQ is HUGE. We need to nurture that in our kids. I think most Kindergarten teachers know that. Most Kindergarten teachers (at least the ones who have been teaching for a while and probably some of the newer ones who had good pre-service educations) are probably miserable being forced to do something they know is wrong. There is a way to ratchet up experiences in Kindergarten for say 30 min. a day to highlight more ELA or math concept stuff, but we should not “throw the baby out with the bath water” ie creative play and the active learning 4s and 5s need. PLUS the time constraint is another HUGE factor. Imagine having 3 or 4 kids who need school homework help. They sit all day and then they have to sit at night. I think some kids take ridiculously long on a sheet as homework compared to how they would do it in school because they simply do not want to be doing worksheets at home. READING to kids is essential growth and I think that should be encouraged/helped/modeled/ etc. but not required. A lovely child with a kind and smart mom. So glad you have reached out to this group who have excellent ideas and encouragement. I am in a small somewhat rural area. But grew up near NYC so I understand the system there at least a little and I know it is totally different. That is something I feel many do not understand. Take 50 states, all the regions, all the kinds of areas and local culture and we are hugely diverse. Good luck with what you are doing. You can operate on different fronts based on good ideas offered here and many others at home and on weekends with our daughter. My son went to a 1/2 Kdg. So in 1st grade after the third day of school when he asked me how many days until summer vacation, my heart sank. He really did not enjoy the regimentation of his classroom, even though I knew the teacher was good and it would be ok. I did not ant his spirit broken. He came through ok, but I thanked God for his 2nd grade experience. Each year can differ, but you know your child best. And if you have at most say 2 hours at night to have dinner, enjoy her and get ready for bed/the next day it is not a lot! Homework for little ones should not impinge on family time. PS I have an M.S. in early childhood education even though I taught elementary school for my long career. My thought is that once this new “panacea” does not pan out and work, “they” will be on to some new “fix”. The problems in public education are large, but time is finite, poverty is the bottom line, and early educational experiences (talking informal, subtle things here) are critical to kids’ goals and ability to achieve. We are never going to have one size fits all education. I think we need to look at schools that are succeeding on multiple levels and offer them as sort of franchises that others could use and emulate. We need creative thoughtful approaches and we need buy-in from learners. Reading William Glasser’s explanations about human growth he makes the case that only 20% or so of people come to school primed and willing to participate in that “boss model” of education. I suggest, if you have time, you read his book The Quality School. Even though it is probably hard to implement, many of the ideas make sense and help and would help you with your daughter. On here we have folks looking at the big picture and others at the smaller focused one that pertains to kids in the “now”. I try to do both. Good luck to you and your sweet, funny, lovely daughter. It is hard to see a child’s spirit broken, but may she be resilient and have other avenues in which to pursue her passions.
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Dear Rose,
When my son went to kindergarten many years ago, his school was located in an affluent area where a lot of pressure was placed on little children to read and write at age five. Although my son had a February birthday and was old for the grade, he was still totally uninterested in academics. When I had my first parent-teacher conference, the teacher declared, “Maybe he’s not as bright as we thought.” It was like a knife through my heart.
When I tried to tutor him with workbooks, my son pleaded, “Please, Mommy, I just want to play.” So I let him play.
Well, that son grew up to be a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford and now designs radios for the planes used by our armed forces.
So here is my advice to you: Because your child is only four years old, take her out of the high pressure environment and place her in a good preschool. If you can’t afford that, take her out of school and place her in a high-quality home or daycare center. In the meantime look for a better school to enroll her in next year. If one is not available, express your concerns to the principal of the school and unite with other parents who feel as you do. Your child has a RIGHT to an appropriate education.
Many years ago, a woman with five academically successful children gave me this advice: “Respond to your child’s interests. If he shows an interest in rocks, go rock collecting and go to the nearest library to check out books about rocks. Enroll him in summer science workshops at the museums. Above all, keep his joy of learning alive.”
I followed the woman’s advice and my sons did as well as hers. Good luck to you, Rose. Because you are interested and involved, your child will likely do well too.
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I think massive homework is the inevitable CONSEQUENCE of developmentally inappropriate, “accountability”, standards AND standardization.
Big picture though— the main intention of most reform is to drive patents AWAY FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS. As the reform is implemented, the schools get worse (by design). But in order to move the destruction out of the cities, the reformers (our choicers) needed to nationalize reform. While NCLB was horrendous it was largely relegated to the cities. RTTP and the Kommon Kore have nationalized the stupidity and destruction.
All by design
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I didn’t mean for Rose to pull her child out of public school for good, but only until the child is at least a year older.
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Linda Johnson, here in NYC the public schools all mandate that students attend kindergarten in the calendar year in which they turn five. So if she pulls her child out, next year her child will be placed in first grade. There is no exception here. I researched to see if it was possible with my son, and it wasn’t.
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Frustrated in Brooklyn is right. What I’ve heard is that the current policy is that if children are not on track by the end of first grade they are left back and repeat first grade. Apparently it’s not the stigma it used to be, but still …
I do think my daughter will be okay. I think part of her frustration is that she’s very close to grasping certain concepts, but not quite there. As I said, I like her school and teachers, but I wish her education at this age were gentler and more playful. Her anxiety breaks my heart. If the current high stakes testing has not changed drastically by the time she reaches third grade, I intend to opt out, but we need to get through this now.
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Four is a little young for kindergarten.
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Holding children back is not permitted in nyc public schools. If I took her out of kindergarten she would still be expected to start 1st grade next September. The only way to do this in nyc is private school, which is not financially possible for me. Also, most private schools are on board with rigor as well. The local Catholic school is worse. They brag about kindergarteners doing 1st grade level work. (Besides, we’re Jewish.)
I want her to go to our local public school with its diverse student population. I just want my daughter to be taught at the level she is at, not the level polititians and corporate execs think she should be.
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By forcing/mandating these benchmarks, the children can failed, the teachers can be failed, and more rigorous mandates can be installed. Churn. Burn. Get rid of the teachers, close the schools. TNTP and TFA to the rescue….tho they won’t be held up to the same scrutiny or the same account.
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Speaking as a retired teacher, a parent of 3 young adults and with no grandchildren yet on the horizon to be subjected to this abuse, here is what I would do:
At the school level:
First, make an appointment to speak with your daughter’s teacher as soon as you can. Don’t try this at a parent night. Explain clearly what you have shared here, and emphasize that you are acting as your child’s advocate. See what you get for feedback – the teacher may agree with you about these policies but be hamstrung. Explain that you will not allow your daughter’s down time to be consumed by hours of homework.
Next, make an appointment with the principal. Have the same conversation. Explain that you have spoken to the classroom teacher and that you are advocating not just for your child, but also for those who may feel intimidated to do so. Follow up with a written letter. Refer to Nancy Carlsson Paige and David Elkind’s research – these are experts in early childhood development whose research back up your intuition. Copy the letter to whoever is above the principal in the food chain.
Do the same for you child’s after-school program. If your child doesn’t already remain in the same school building, considering moving her to a developmental program if possible.
Talk to other parents in the schoolyard if you can. Find like-minded parents and get them to do the same. Make play dates with these kids!
At home:
Don’t let her spend much time on homework. It is useless. Tell her not to worry about it; that you are the parent and you can decide she doesn’t need to do it. Tell her sometimes grown-ups can be silly about things, but that because she is your child, you know her better than anyone else and you are in charge of taking care of her. Without making a big deal, demonstrate every confidence that she will learn to read easily when she’s ready. Make books a happy place and time. My oldest is 27 and she still loves picture books with little text: “Good Dog, Carl” books by Alexandra Day, anything by Jan Brett, Rosemary Wells’ “The Bunny Planet”, Richard Scarry.
Get her some magnetic plastic letters to stick to the fridge to make words with. Give her plenty of activities to develop hand-eye coördination – drawing,finger paints, making and playing with clay, lacing and tracing shapes (a company called Lauri makes these), little plastic animals she can manipulate and make up stories about, rubber stamps and ink, stars, stickers, ribbon, left over boxes, scissors for cutting out and glue to make paper chains, Halloween decorations, Thanksgiving turkeys, etc. We used to call this Kindergarten!
Speak to your pediatrician, nurse practitioner or other health care provider. I don’t believe you are the only parent whose child is being subjected to this treatment. The more professionals can weigh in against these practices, the sooner they will stop.
You are doing the right thing for your child!
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Rose, CL’s suggestions are great (although see what principal does before you cc a letter to higher-up).
Also, ask librarian for rebus books–they have pictures in running text that build confidence & allow kids to “read” words they can’t decode yet. Use the book Mr. Pine’s Mixed-Up Signs; read together. Then draw lots of signs to match real world (Exit, Pet Shop) & picture cues (she’ll be able to read Toy Department!) Someone else mentioned environmental print–finger trace & chant letters on toothpaste tube (Crest has short e sound), Joy dish detergent, cereal box.
Kids should be able to play/explore after sitting through a school day. Hearing of constant homework in elementary school makes me wonder if kids will sit in low gear during school since they know what they face after 3 o’clock.
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I agree. The fix is in. The CCSS are designed to frustrate students and parents so it will be easy for the charters to swoop in and offer an alternative. Parents need to understand that these standards were designed by non-educators, and they are flawed, especially in the early elementary years. The CCSS do not account for developmental differences among children.
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Thanks
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Kids need to play with letters, sounds, number and quantity in the way that suits them best, which is through sensory and exploratory play. One of the conceptual skills for learning to read, symbolic and dramatic play, is often banned in kindergarten classrooms. Symbolic play teaches them that one item or object or symbol can stand for something else, which is a fairly abstract construct to a young child. When symbolid play is discarded as not important, that practice is actually highly self defeating for the teacher and a huge loss in the quality of the child’s environment. They need it to learn to read and to understand that objects and symbols can represent something else, just like letters represent sounds and text represents ideas or descriptions of pictures or facts. I often find that teachers without early childhood training are less able to embrace these ideas until they have a few years of experience under their belt with observing the true nature of the young child. Piaget’s important work definitely did not inform the creation of the CCSS. The Common Core can be taught in a much kinder way to the kindergarten child, but it involves a lot more effort on the part of a sensitive early childhood educator than copying worksheets and following the scripts.
If I were you, I would try to get my child into Bank Street or a Montessori or Waldorf school, because very little about the public system is going to change, and if she doesn’t meet those standards (which are sometimes unreachable for a four year old), they will hold her back. You could also pull her out and send her to preschool, or a high quality young fives program, and try kindergarten again next year. It isn’t too late to stop the damage. She seems already to have the idea that school is horrible. That is sad, it shouldn’t be.
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Your predicament as a parent is truly horrifying. What’s worse, it’s becoming the norm rather than an exception in many school districts.
My son is now older, so I am not in a similar predicament. However, if I were, I would first find other parents with similar concerns and form a group. Group of parents will have a much easier time being heard than individual parents.
We would then voice our concerns with the school administrator. If they do not address our concerns, I would raise the level of our concern, including picketing the school. Public demonstrations would require the administrators to publicly justify their school’s policies and practices that contradict the preponderance of research on childhood development and human learning. Even more importantly, public demonstrations will help hundreds of thousands of parents who struggle with the same horrible predicament as you but do so in private isolation because they do not have the means or the confidence to object to the “experts”.
Incidentally, I was a middle school math teacher. I worked with children with the lowest academic performance in a title 1 school (i.e., a school in a poor neighborhood). I stopped teaching because I could not shake the feeling that I was part of a barbaric system that was intellectually and psychology doing great harm to our children in the name of “education”. It has taken me a while to come to terms with my teaching experience. If I were to point to one thing about our educational system, it is that we have institutionally eliminated patience with our children. Patience is an attribute that is present in all loving parents and caring teachers.
Patience says to the child that you are worthwhile, because you are worth waiting for. Patience says that you are okay if you learn some things slower than others, and it’s okay if you learn somethings faster than others because we all learn things at different speeds. Patience says that it’s okay if some subjects are harder for you than for others, and it’s okay if some subjects are easier for you than for others, because we all have different strengths and weaknesses. This is not a mistake by God. These differences are what makes us beautiful. Patience says if you didn’t learn the lesson this time, it’s okay because you can try again. And if you don’t get it the second time, it’s okay because you can try again. Patience is what, in the end, will enable a child to succeed and, therefore, build self-confidence and self-efficacy and the tenacity to succeed when things get tough. Patience is what will help our children to master the academic subjects. More importantly, patience is what will help them become decent human beings. You don’t have to be an expert in education to understand and appreciate the importance of patience.
Our “educational system” is systemically wringing out every drop of patience with our children, even with children who are 4, 5, 6 years old! This is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportion. And the mommies and daddies of young children must speak up because they are the most effective spokepersons to raise the red flag on this crisis. They may be the only ones who are capable of getting us out of this predicament.
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My daughter will be sending her son to the school she teaches at. It is a Montessori School. I retired as a Title I teacher and encouraged my daughter to go a different route. She doesn’t make a lot, but she is happy with what and how the students learn. The children learn through play, and they love it. She teaches 3 to 6 year olds. They learn concepts through hands-on my 3rd graders were learning. They are allowed to go at their own pace. Occasionally, if someone is taking too long, she gives them a gentle shove. I’ve said this before–I think public schools should offer parents a choice like Montessori along with regular curriculum. Some schools in AZ are already doing this. I think you should do what is best for your daughter. If that means changing schools if you are able, do so. If not, talk to the principal and tell him/her that you don’t agree with the homework or the curriculum being used for kindergarten. See if you can’t get other parents to help you approach the principal. Join Bad Ass Moms on Facebook and get some more ideas.
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I feel for Rose. I also had a child who was on the young side (thankfully a few years before Common Core nonsense). I was the parent telling the teacher that no way, no how was my kid doing the kindergarten homework. Thankfully, the kindergarten teacher told us not to worry about it.A year later, I was one of the few 1st grade parents not doing phonics with my kid. He got it eventually, when he was developmentally ready, at about age 6 1/2.
Here is a link to a superb article about homework that I have read many times over the years. http://www.salon.com/2005/10/22/homework_5/
The author’s technique is worth thinking about. Better to leave some homework undone than to break a child’s spirit.
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You are very right to be concerned!! Unfortunately if you wait for the curriculum to change, it will be too late for your daughter. The huge monster that is our educational system is more concerned about their legacies and profit, not to mention justifying their jobs. They are not concerned about your daughter. You are your daughters only advocate!! We parents have to speak out to teachers, principals, boards of Ed and our state representatives that Common Core is bad for our kids!!
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Practical advice for all parents with children’s age before junior and senior kindergarten, we need to be conscious of body, mind and spirit. For body, children need to be active like stretching, walking, running, dancing, skipping, swimming, soccer, gymnastic… For mind, children need to explore in science and literature through picture books, playing with Lego, coloring, drawing, cutting shapes, watching films in nature like birds, forests, mountains, oceans, moon and sun, and parents’ reading time. For spirit, let children’s listen to classic music, children’s music, and parents’ reading fables (in poem format= rhyme and rhythm). Each activity should be 30 min or less or more dependent on children’s interest. My son could play with Lego (big blog and colorful) for 2 hours non- stop at the age of 4.
If we do not have time for ourselves, as parents, to fulfill our basic in economy, and academic upgrade, we will be overwhelmed with house-chores, and responsibilities to take care for our children’s needs in materials and emotion. If we are busy to make the dead-end meet, our emotion will be uptight, frustrated, cranky, impatient from traffic and working environment (over-worked, underpaid condition, and bully/insecure job from greedy employers)
Today, the 1% powerful class intentionally creates the chaos society = competitive, unstable/insecure working and living. As a result, it is very difficult for doing decent parental skills in low income and single income family.
Solution: we need to be aware of our limit and priority in our resources in time, money, family bonding, parent networking, and school involvement. As a result, we will content with whatever our setting goal to be achieved. Back2basic.
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I have read that the kindergarten standards are unreasonably high. There are veteran teachers who say they are consistant with 3rd grade standards , which is wickedly unfair when one considers what we learn in those few years which are tremendoulsy fruitful periods in human maturation. I put my son in a preschool and kept in their instead if putting him in public school which was half days and I worked full ons as a teacher. I thought my som was allowed a more personalized and stress free start in that school . He made an easy transition into the public school which was all good until fifth grade when I opted out of tests and his principal and teacher reacted to it my bullying him, i let me choose what he wants and says the tests make him look better than the grades , which is not usually the case .
If all eise fails, try to enroll your girl in a Catholic school ( scholarships are not too hard to find) ,a progressive teacher run charter or find a way to make vouchers work for you as some hire teachers privately . But first you must be heard and encourage parents to become activists as well. No one has been more effective than moms and dads who demand removal of these testing crazed nightmares and amature standards . Enrollment is your ace because it is what makes or breaks a budget. You have options and it is about time for parents to take back schools along with childhood for children who should not cry because school work is scary and frustrating. I bet your daughter’s teacher would love to meet you for a cup of tea to discuss all this outside the earshot of her administrators , she will make an awesome ally and visa versa. We are so much less without each other.
I bet the standards are online and lessons are nearby. Arm yourself with these and the state standards when addressing administrators, parents, teachers, etc. Activism will empower you and set a fine example for your kid and everyone else . You came to this blog for support so clearly you’re a natural.
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Wait. I’m sorry. Let’s stop for a moment. I need to back up.
How can four-year-old children in the first few weeks of kindergarten have HOMEWORK?
This is October. The child started school in September. She won’t be five until November. How can she have homework?
Since she is in an after-school program, and Mom works a grueling schedule, when is it time for family for this little girl?
Honestly, maybe I’m rebellious by nature, but if it were me, I would ask to meet with the kindergarten teacher and the principal, and ask them what they would do if my child were to hand in no homework this year. I’d ask very nicely, not argumentatively, and it would be a sincere question. I would want to see what they say.
What’s the “penalty” for this “crime?” You are entitled to know.
The only kindergarten homework I ever had was to draw a picture, if I wanted to. Or cut out shapes in construction paper. If I wanted to. I was five and one-half years old when I started kindergarten, in the public schools. I never went to preschool.
I read avidly, in two languages, every day.
Neither of them is my first language.
(Funny, I still remember kindergarten as being manipulative. They would pick one child to give extra chores to each week, but very surreptitiously, and then give them the Teacher’s Helper Award for the week, which was supposed to make the child very happy. It might have been a Cold War thing.)
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Rose, you are the best advocate for your child. You can be the squeaking wheel that helps other parents take notice and stand up against this abuse to their children.
The loss of creative play is the loss of childhood. Bill Gates, Arne Duncan, and the majority of education reformers have characteristics of Aspergers Syndrome (Gelatophobia). They do not understand the need for play. Play is how children develop their social and emotional growth. It is how they use their powerful curiosity and imagination to create, design, invent, and discover for themselves how things work. Play is how children connect to their environment. Creative play is authentic holistic learning.
Isolating children in a school environment that disconnects them from opportunities for development of their social and emotional growth is cruel. It goes against the nature of authentic learning. It causes children to become codependent and not develop authentic identity or a strong sense of self. This dysfunctional rigid authoritarian environment in schools is leading to codependency in adults. It is producing adults who are intellectually advanced, but with regressed social and emotional development. These adults are called “adult children”. When we see “adult children” who lack spontaneity, humor, and the ability for imaginative play, are rigid and controlling, have social anxiety or fear of authoritarian judgement, a need to please others they perceive as”authority”, and are most often workaholics, we are seeing the products of this dysfunction. It is a result of growing up in rigid authoritarianism in their environment in family, school, or both, with focus on performance and neglect of social and emotional growth.
Our schools have become dysfunctional environments for children because they are being controlled by ‘adult children” who think this rigid environment of authoritarianism is “normal”. The loss of childhood is the loss of joy, and the inability to experience pleasure or self comfort in adulthood. The loss of spontaneity and ability for imaginative play in childhood creates a profound sadness that becomes part of an Aspergers Syndrome personality. It is all work and no play, a life of isolation, self absorbed survival, and the absence of emotional connections to others. The loss of childhood in our schools and families is producing dissociated adults who have detached emotions, no empathy or guilt, narcissistic and borderline behaviors, and a weak sense of self and identity. Our dysfunctional schools are producing codependency rather than independent children with healthy identities who can think for themselves. What is it going to take to recover and protect childhood?
http://truthabouteducation.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/the-disturbing-transformation-of-kindergarten/
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Also, keep in mind, homework that is meaningless, time consuming busywork has no merit, it is “punishment”. It is intrusive on family time and it prevents children from having healthy “free play”, which is necessary for healthy social and emotional development.
Adults who are themselves insecure and grew up in dysfunction have an unconscious need to “punish” children. Part of the dysfunction of our current state of Arne Duncan’s twisted thinking is the need for “punishment” in the school environment. He is a classic bully who has been given free reign to punish the whole of America’s children while their parents are helpless bystanders watching in horror but doing nothing.
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You make an excellent point about Asperger’s Syndrome. These gentlemen (and David Coleman) are exclusively “left-brain” learners and assume that everyone else ought to be too. Numbers and data are everything but the emotional and intuitive ways of knowing and learning are discarded. I also think the Common Core was somehow mistakenly “normed” by observing privileged children in private school settings with highly educated parents. What was intended by some on the original CCSS committee to be “aspirational” standards have now become benchmark standards reinforced by high stakes tests.
My recommendation is to hold back younger kindergartners a year until this whole mess blows up. Their self-efficacy is at stake. This experience could injure their self concept as “student” for a lifetime.
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I have a preschooler, kindergartner and a first grader. My first grader is advanced academically, so all of this early academic intensity is not so bad for her. But I wish the academics would stay in the school during school time. Not only do they not have the kind of arts I would like for her, they don’t give us much time to do it on our own because of homework. However, I’m very concerned about my other two kids. To what end are we pushing them so hard? My youngest two came to us through foster care and are trauma and neglect survivors. They have some delays, but they have many talents and abilities too. They both are around where they should be for typical development, which may not be enough for them to be in an age-appropriate classroom. I will opt them out of testing if I need to, but I can’t opt them out of the onslaught of worksheets and busywork they are expected to do. I have decided to work on making my public school better and hope we can mitigate the negative effects of some of these policies. I would consider a private school, but it is out of our price range. However, what I would NEVER do is send my children to a charter school. I believe in public schools too much — and charters (the vast majority — non-union ones) are part of the problem — they are undermining and de-funding the public schools and the teaching profession. I could not in good conscience send my child to one, even if the curricula and pedagogy were more in line with what I would want for them. I still see the solution and the more democratic way being by making the public schools better. And I want my children to see that we try to live our values in our home, rather than the “I’ve got mine” attitude. So we’re sticking it out and fighting for a better way via the public schools. However, if it gets to the point where it really feels as if this way is harmful — and not just the way I would prefer — then we will have to consider private or maybe homeschool (neither of which I want to do). It should not be like this. They are so young.
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R-E-F-U-S-E
Then you can
R-E-L-A-X
(sort of)
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Hello Rose,
Been there. A lot of good solutions here, in addition to the ones you are already doing (capping homework, reassuring, etc.).
I think too we might learn, from parents who send their kids to public school, but who also want to keep them in touch with a culture of their own (immigrants, religious groups etc.) how they manage to get kids to take school seriously, yet at the same time, to trust more to their parents’ vision of education than the school’s. There’s a lot I don’t like about the U.S. curriculum, not all of it the fault of NCLB / Common Core madness, so we try to communicate to our daughter a kind of aloof engagement (yeah, I know – hard to make sense): Yes, we want her to play ball and do her best and get what she can out of school, but also, that what we really value are
(a) effort
(b) reasonable persistence in the face of difficulty
(c) enjoyment of good things, like music, stories, nature, etc.
(d) being a good person.
When she had to do STAR testing in second grade, I told her that I wanted her to do her best because it’s very helpful to be able to perform well in testing situations. But I also told her to remember that this was not a test of *her* abilties, but of the school’s. (I also asked whether she thought that was really fair, and she said she thought it was kind of unfair, because it wasn’t the teacher’s fault that Bob wasn’t paying attention – he never paid attention to anything.) Most of all, I told her that she shouldn’t feel bad if the test seemed too hard, or get cocky if the test seemed too easy: it really didn’t have anything to do with the important stuff (see above).
And we tried to find things to do at home that would make *our* educational values a bit more concrete, not just defined in negative. Music’s great, if you can afford lessons; kids don’t like practicing, but it’s an area where there’s just no mystery to learning – you just practice, end of story – and with a bit of persistence a child cultivates a real skill that they realize other people just don’t have, which is very empowering. We go to museums, talk about stuff that interests us. We don’t do a lot of preaching about the importance of skills – we stick to enthusing over the fantastic things that are out there to find out about.
Anyway, sorry for the long post, good luck, and I hope your little girl can develop a bit of philosophy about the current nuttiness of education. Keep hold of the fact that many people go through horrendous education systems and manage to come out alright; people have tried all kinds of ways to crush children’s spirits, but they never really succeed.
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I’m trying to figure out why a 4-year-old is in kindergarten. Is this the norm in NY/NYC? Yikes. Some years ago, our state changed the last birthdate they’ll take students for K, and it’s well before November. Rose, I agree that the curriculum is too much too soon for all kindergarteners. But a tiny piece of that–not all of it, but some–is because your daughter is too young for kindergarten. Is there any way to move her into a more developmentally appropriate TK or pre-K program with kids her own age and let her restart K next year? To be honest, if you persist with kindergarten this year, whether she makes that reading goal or not, think how bad 1st grade is going to be, and 2nd, and so on.
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In NYC, the cutoff birthday is December 31. That’s why there are four-year-olds in kindergarten. Of course they’re not developmentally ready for the Common Core standards in kindergarten; they were barely ready for the old standards. The cutoff should have been changed years ago, and the fact that it hasn’t been is one of the reasons red-shirting has been so prevalent here. It also probably contributes to low test scores.
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Dear Rose,
As Joseph Riciotti wrote in an article published in the Nation:
Unfortunately, teachers cannot be a part of the Common Core revolt as any dissatisfaction or criticism on their part could be construed as insubordination with possible loss of employment. Hence, the parents of students in public schools will have to be the ones leading the revolt.
Regarding your concerns about your daughters k experience, In the same way, the most influential voices against inappropriate kindergarten practices are those of parents and courageous administrators. Next to kindergarten teachers like me, these are the people who see with their own eyes the damage that is being caused by trying to force concepts into the brains of 5-year olds for which they are not ready. They are also the people who must call for change (loudly and soon!) in the way we are teaching 5-year olds – wholly inappropriate and ineffective ways – like paper-based activities. Parents and administrators (and teachers as much as possible) must demand that learning through play be re-introduced into the kindergarten classroom since we know without question based on lots of data, that what looks like “play” is a 5-year olds’ work. It is HOW THEY LEARN. In addition, it must be demanded that FREE PLAY is re-introduced. The kindergarten classroom is in the process of being stripped of anything that looks like play or fun. I can only surmise this is part of the whole effort to teach grade 1 and 2 concepts to 5-year olds. This is damaging on so many levels!
1. Besides teaching concepts that are beyond what a 5-year old can understand, we are using ineffective ways to teach this level of learner, so kindergarteners are not learning as much as they could if we used developmentally appropriate methods. The foundation is weak.
2. Like your child, kindergartners are learning to dislike school at 5. What a travesty!
3. Teaching inappropriate concepts takes much more time than teaching at a level that comes more naturally. So important curricula in social studies, science and character education is pushed out. Ask any kindergarten teacher about the frantic pace of our classrooms and how that affects teachers and students.
4. Kindergarten is the place (besides the home) where once character was taught and established. There is precious little time to teach honesty, citizenship, kindness, trustworthiness, responsibility, etc. – qualities of a good person and a solid citizen – in kindergarten because we are so busy shoving academia into our students’ little hearts and minds. These are LESSONS that must be deliberately and systematically taught, just like math and language arts. What a shame and a loss.
5. Other critical aspects of kindergarten are being pushed out, like reading aloud. Teachers don’t have time. This is the moment kids will learn to adore books and reading through children’s literature. This is when the door is wide open. There is no substitute and no other time children are as primed to ignite that spark of reading. Losing the opportunity to turn kids into passionate lovers of books because of all the other things k teachers are trying to fit into our day is damaging to the child, their education and their future beyond measure.
6. We are spending tremendous amounts of time and energy TESTING kindergartners. Since a 5-year old cannot read instructions and since paper-based tests are developmentally inappropriate (a 5-year old has no idea what they are looking at or what to do with this bizarre page with columns of smiling and frowning faces), implementation must be small group or worse, one on one. And for the most part, the results are meaningless. I recently had to “test” my students’ ability to memorize a nursery rhyme. There is no other way to implement this test than 1-on-1. At 5 minutes a student (average), that’s 2 hours and 15 minutes to see if they can recite “Jack Be Nimble.” What are we testing here? Memory? And what should a teacher do with the “data”? WHAT’S THE POINT? Imagine the planning time that goes into a teacher’s day when he or she must weekly include blocks of time for this kind of activity. What are the other 15-22 students doing? 5-year olds are not yet independent and they need a lot of supervision. And they’re needy. Even if they don’t need instruction on an independent activity (for example, a floor puzzle), they want their teacher to see their work. They are proud and they want us to be proud of them, too! So they come up to the teacher to show their work, which interrupts and slows down the testing group. Trust me, for many reasons, paper-based testing in kindergarten is completely absurd.
7. Homework. Really, at 5 we are making kids do more than half hour of homework? The common formula that used to be used was 10 minutes per grade. So what is most effective is kindergarten homework that always includes a read-aloud and language skills. “Ask your child what their favorite part of school was today and why. Tell them to describe it to you using full sentences.” And there’s no harm in a worksheet that reinforces concepts they are learning in school. But it should never take too long, be too hard or make a kid miserable. It should reinforce and establish a habit.
Rose, the picture of what is happening in kindergartens across this country is not pretty. And it must change. Suffice it to say, we must all loudly and persistently voice our concerns about the way things are being done in education, and for you and me, especially at the kindergarten level. What is happening is frightening and shocking, and yet it goes on. Our children are being used for some sort of bizarre experimental education movement and it goes against everything we KNOW intuitively and based on research about kindergarten learners. We are laying down a weak foundation.
Please, please, don’t let this go. Write letters to your paper, to your local “Patch”, to your principal and superintendent. Ask local politicians their position on testing, methods, curriculum and homework in kindergarten. And then vote for what is right. Thank God for people like you who are noticing and talking about the issue. Now, we have to figure out how to quickly make a change.
P.S. Take a look at a wonderful teacher on YouTube. It’s called “Occupy Kindergarten.”
Fantastic. Also check out Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post, excellent articles. Here’s one: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/20/another-very-scary-headline-about-kindergartners/.
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This is so sad because all the research shows Kinders need to be playing
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Rose I am so glad to see this outpouring of support and advice, and wanted to mention one other thing. In a little city in northern Italy, Reggio Emilia, there are schools for babies 6 months – 6 years old that are municipally funded and world-renowned for the remarkable practices that honor what they call “the hundred languages of children.” An exhibit from Reggio is coming to Brooklyn in January and there are a number of events connected with this – I urge you to share this website: http://www.newyorkcitywol.org with like-minded parents, teachers, administrators, community people so that we can begin to realize how terribly misguided our current approaches to early childhood education are.
I wonder if instead of returning your daughter’s “homework” you could begin to document the things you get to do together at home and email them to the teacher. I am certain the teacher would find these little stories and pictures more informative than some stupid worksheet and maybe other parents would opt for your version of “homework” too.
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I feel your pain. As an educator and parent it is my view that kindergarteners shouldn’t have homework. They work hard enough all day….particularly in the current educational climate. I capped my son’s kindergarten homework at ten minutes last year. I simply wrote “My son was unable to complete the homework last night” on top. While educational reform may be happening at school, you need to make sure you remember that you control what goes on in your own home.
It may help you to connect with other parents who feel the same way. Contact the teacher, principal, and superintendent. Write letters to Albany. Vote. We all need to stand together for our children. Your child needs your voice.
I wish you well. Elizabeth
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Thank you to everyone who responded so thoughtfully. I would have responded sooner, but we are currently battling our second cold of the school year. (Cough, cough!) I love that no one suggested a reading app! We do many of the things suggested. We have lots of books, we read signs while out and about, bedtime stories, she sees me reading a lot, etc. I will check out some of the book suggestions. Thanks.
Regarding the homework load, it’s gotten easier as my daughter has gotten used to it, and since her afterschool teachers has stopped having her correct every single mistake (at my direction). Personally, I don’t think kindergarteners should have homework at all, but my daughter wants to do it. She wants to do it along with the other kids. Her afterschool teachers have told me she often wants to continue after the time limit I’ve set. I’ve told them that if they are in the middle of a worksheet, go ahead and finish that, but then she should stop. And I explained to my daughter that this is my rule. That I want her to have time to relax and play with her friends after a long day at school.
As to how to change what’s going on in early childhood education, I don’t believe there will be any real changes until other big issues in public education are addressed. I also don’t think I could get enough parents in agreement to make changes in our school. Yes, there are parents who agree with me, but there are many more who believe the lie that the US is falling way behind other countries, and that this is one of the ways to combat that. My daughter will be fine. Just yesterday as we read one of her school readers, she recognized a word from another book she knows. I pointed out to her that she READ that word, and she grinned and gave me a high five. Nonetheless, I feel like she’s being cheated out of a chunk of childhood. Regardless of all the research about play based learning, there is no momentum to return to that model for kindergarten. It’s just sad.
As I’ve said before, I love my daughter’s school. It’s a Title 1 school with dedicated teachers and staff. I don’t wish to antagonize them. Her teacher is the sole classroom teacher for 24 children. Smaller class sizes may be a more winnable fight than kindergarten curriculum.
Again, thank you all for the wonderful support and suggestions.
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